saar - hunsruck | travelforkids

This area is a great place for outdoor sports - hiking, biking, and winter sports. Saar-Hunsruck Nature Park is a large reserve with miles of hiking trails through the forest, and Erbeskopf (highest peak in the Rhineland at about 2,600 ft, 816 m).

Celtic Park (Otzenhausen) - Visit original ruins of a Celtic Ringwall and replica Celtic village.

Celtic Ringwall is a huge circular earthwork wall, covered with stones, one of the largest Celtic fortifications in Europe. The site was occupied from the 4th century BC to the 1st century BC, when it was abandoned. Hike on a trail through the forest to the ruins, it's 4km if you walk all the way around. The trail has signs in German and English with explanations of different features - gateway to the fortress, where spring was located, Celtic graves, etc.

Celtic Village (Keltendorf) is a replica of a Celtic settlement 2,000 years ago, with ten different buildings - workshops, storage, and residences. Open April to October, in summer are re-enactments at the park.

Wildlife preserve (Kempfeld) - Visit an open air game preserve to see animals native to the area - lynxes, wolves, wildcats, deer, and wild boar.

Tour a gemstone mine - You can actually see where precious stones come from by touring the Steinkaulenberg gemstone mine. Pop on your helmet, and take a one hour walking tour, where kids will see agates, amethysts, sparkling quartzes embedded in the rock. Tours March to November.

Visit the Felsenkirche,a chapel built into the side of the mountain - it seems unreal, with only the facade visible from the outside.

Under the Felsenkirche you'll find the Idar-Oberstein Museum with its collection of precious stones and minerals from around the world, as well as art made with gems: jewelry, engraved gems, and even sculptures.

Hermeskeil airplane museum - Walk around and through different airplanes, from a Starfighter, Constellation, de Havilland Comet, Vickers Viscount, BAC VC.10, Noratlas, Lightning, F-100 to a Concorde.

Hermeskeil Steam Locomotive Museum (Dampflok Museum) - This museum has about 50 different kinds of German steam engines. April to September on weekends, daily in July and August.

Idar-Oberstein is famous for its Spiessbraten, onion-marinated and flame-grilled steaks, a dish that 19th century gemstone prospectors brought back from Argentina.

If you love gemstones, then this is the place to shop. Find everything from inexpensive polished stones to incredibly elegant jewelry. This might be the place to find something in a child's birthstone.